Wilton Running Club is about more than running

Published
8:00 pm EDT, Saturday, August 29, 2009

Mike was a portly boy who, truth be told, had no reason to be out on a varsity cross country course, putting himself through the pain and rigors of what runners go through to compete in the sport of their choice.

Honestly, from what I remember of Mike -- that is his real first name, but I've forgotten his last name over the passage of time -- he was an annoying kid who drove everybody around him crazy.

Things he thought were funny, others didn't. He was overweight, he wore glasses which kept slipping down the bridge of his nose and, I'm guessing, he didn't shower every day.

He was a target for school bullies, and while Mike is real from my memories, I'm sure every school -- even Wilton -- has a kid just like him.

Mike, however, also gave me one of most proud moments in athletics.

In the late 1990s, while taking a break from the world of sports journalism, at least on a full-time basis, I got into coaching basketball and track. I spent one fall coaching cross country at a tiny school in rural Maine.

Mike was one of my runners. He came out for the team only because one of his few friends was a runner and we desperately needed the numbers.

As I said, Mike and cross country went together like sardines and chocolate ice cream. He finished last in every race; red-faced, wheezing, coughing, looking as though he was going to die right there on the trail -- and this was after he had walked half the course on most days.

But, one day, we were at a meet facing a team that had a runner that was much like Mike. We had run against them before and, in our first meeting, he had even beaten Mike by quite a bit.

For some reason, on this day, in this meet, Mike announced to the team that he wasn't going to finish last. He was going to beat the other kid.

I would say the comment was met with some skeptism, but, as I said, it was pretty easy to tune Mike out. Nobody really cared if he finished last because nobody really cared about him.

As for the race itself, it was pretty non-descript. If any of my runners had finished top 10, I'd have been happy, but I doubt they did. We weren't that type of team.

Instead, this day ended up being about Mike.

On the first loop of the course, Mike was actually running in stride with the kid he had set out to beat. A little later, he had pulled ahead, only to fall behind.

By the time they emerged from the woods for the final loop around a field toward the finish line they were again running step for step.

If this were Hollywood, this would have been a race for first place. The winner would have gotten the girl. The bad guy would have gotten his comeuppance.

Everybody would have gone home happy knowing it was worth the price of a ticket and some popcorn.

But this was Maine, and this was for last place. This was the real world.

Yet, if you ask me, it was just as magical.

I watched with a pride that surprised me as this kid who had bugged me and annoyed me, month after month, over the course of that fall, willed himself ahead down the stretch.

It was his race of a lifetime and he succeeded, not finishing last for the only time that season.

So why am I bringing this up today?

I'm glad you asked.

The Wilton Running Club is looking for runners and when I learned of that, I thought of Mike.

You see, the WRC is an outfit that has produced a lot of top-notch runners over the last few years; runners who have helped turn Wilton High into an FCIAC championship team and runners who qualified for national championship meets, as well.

But I also know for a fact that the WRC is about a lot more than that. It's about team work, it's about camaradarie, it's about friendship, it's about commitment, it's about self-respect.

Running is one of the few sports where the ability to get better can be measured against the clock and not just against your opponent.

No matter how slow you run in your first meet, if you run faster in your next meet then you're a success story.

The Wilton Running Club knows how important that is to a young person.

The first item listed under the Club's mission statement is, "To develop the student-athlete's appreciation for running as a lifelong sport that promotes fitness, conditioning, camaraderie as well as building self-esteem through the establishment and achievement of personal goals."

You don't have to be a champ to be there, or even have the potential to be a winner. All you have to do is care enough to show up and want to be a part of something special. The Wilton Running Club will let you do that.

It's not just about Wilton, either. The WRC accepts runners from outside of town, as well. Ridgefield, Darien, New Canaan have been represented before and there is no doubt the club would welcome would-be runners from Norwalk, Westport or Weston, as well.

The coaching staff of Kevin Foley, Fred Gaston and Mary Zengo are top-notch when it comes to putting the kids ahead of winning.

And that's why I've thought a lot about Mike as I was getting ready to write this.

You can find out more about the WRC, or even find out how to sign up for this fall's season by visiting their Web site at www.wiltonrunningclub.org.

I definitely think it's worth a look.

I have no idea where Mike is now or what kind of adult he turned out to be.

But I do wonder if, when the times get tough, or if he's feeling down about himself, does he think back to that one race, where he reached within himself to become better than everybody thought he was?